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Heavy roller for my lawn?

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  • 06-02-2007 6:16pm
    #1
    Manuel
    Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭


    Hi,
    I sowed a new lawn (half-acre) last September. I had spent a lot of time picking the stones out and raking it beforehand. Now it's got a nice healthy 6 inches of grass on it, but the surface itself after settling is pretty uneven and still fairly stoney.

    I'm hoping to roll it, now that the grass is fairly thick, and before the ground firms up too much.

    Before Christmas I enquired about hiring a half-tonne walk-behind roller but the guy said it would destroy my new lawn, and that I wouldn't be able to turn it without making a complete mess.

    Anyway, looking at the frost these mornings I thought maybe with the combination of the thicker layer of grass and the frosty ground, this might be a good time to try a heavy roller on it.

    What do yis think??

    Before Christmas I tried pushing an old stone roller around but it was too small and it made no impression - heavy and all as the bugger was to push around!

    Thanks,
    /M.


Comments

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    #2
    Mr Magnolia
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,435 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr Magnolia


    I'd be careful you don't kill the grass rolling it while it's frozen. You could get onto your local Garden Centre, surely they could source one for you. If not one of those big gas cylinders might be the job, but it'd be no fun on half an acre.


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    #3
    Irish Gardener
    Registered Users Posts: 451 ✭✭Irish Gardener


    A heavy roller, even a 1/4 tonne, will destroy the air spaces existing between the soil particles in your lawn.
    If this happens, fertilisers will have no effect on your grass and you will more than likely suffer badly with moss.
    You will go from a stony lawn to an anaemic yellow lawn

    A light rolling with the half-filled water roller, available from most hire shops, carried out on a day when the surface of the soil is moist, should suffice. Ideally, carry this out 3 days before your first mowing of the lawn.
    The middle of March is usually a good time to begin your mowing proper for the growing season.
    A light rolling on a moist day should be enough to settle any stones that may have been exposed on the lawns surface. 3 days after the rolling when the grass sits up, give the lawn its first cut.
    If this does not settle the stones, then, I’m afraid you may have to pick them.


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